Layer 2 of 3

What NJDOE guidance says

Two documents: the Commissioner’s guidance, revised January 2026, and a set of frequently asked questions published in July 2026. Together they are the layer that reaches lunch, study hall and passing time, and the layer the Commissioner can revise without a new law.

State guidanceIssued by the Commissioner of Education under the statute. Revisable by NJDOE without new legislation.

Bell-to-bell, and where the phrase comes from

A glossary entry, not a statute

The guidance requires every board to adopt a bell-to-bell policy that prohibits personal internet-enabled device use for the entirety of the school day, for students in kindergarten through grade 12.^{Limiting Student Use}

The definition that does the work is in the guidance’s glossary: the window runs from the bell at the start of the day to the dismissal bell, and includes time in between class periods and lunch.^{Key Terms}

The FAQs then apply it directly. Asked whether students may use devices during lunch, study hall or time between classes, the answer is no.^Q8 Asked what bell-to-bell means, the answer adds that students may use devices before school, after school and at other times outside regular hours when they are on school grounds, unless the district restricts further.^Q2

GuidanceStudentsInternetEnabledDevices.pdfKey Terms

Description of the timeframe when the bell rings at the start of the school day until the dismissal bell rings at the end of the academic day. … includes time in between class periods and lunch.

Eight words at the end of a glossary entry are what reach your lunch period. Nothing in the statute puts them there.^{Key Terms}

And the FAQ that applies it

No. The bell-to-bell policy requires personal internet-enabled devices to be off and stored for the entirety of the school day. Students may not access these devices during lunch on campus, study hall, time between classes, and/or other periods during the school day.^Q8

The four storage options

A non-exhaustive list

The guidance gives a non-exhaustive list of ways a district may store devices, and a district may use different options in different schools or for different grades.^{Device Storage Options}^Q6 Which one your school picks changes your day more than almost anything else in these documents.

Locked pouch system
Devices go into secure pouches when students enter the school. Students keep carrying them, but cannot use them. At the end of the day staff open each pouch with a specific magnetic device.^{Device Storage Options}
School locker or bin system
Staff collect devices on entry and store them in assigned lockers or bins. Students get them back at the end of the day when staff unlock the storage unit.^{Device Storage Options}
In-class storage stations
A teacher-managed station in each classroom: numbered pockets, shelves, caddies or lockers, which may be locked or unlocked. The guidance suggests this suits younger students who stay in one room, or schools that store devices during homeroom.^{Device Storage Options}
Student storage
The student turns the device off and keeps it in their own backpack, locker or bag for the whole school day.^{Device Storage Options}

The guidance also tells schools to set up secure handling of confiscated devices, including logging, storage and retrieval, and to train staff on the storage protocol.^{Device Storage Options}

Three grade bands

The same core rule in all three

The statute required age-appropriate and grade-level differentiated guidelines, and the guidance delivers them as recommendations for three bands.^s.2.b(1)^{Grade-Level Differentiated Guidelines} Every band keeps the same core rule (off and stored all day) and differs in what else it recommends. That the Department already differentiates by age is one reason our proposal asks only about grades 9–12.

Grades K–5

Students are discouraged from bringing personal devices at all. If they do, devices stay off and stored. Teachers are told not to build students' own technology into lessons at this level; all digital work happens on district-managed tools.^{Grades K-5}

Grades 6–8

Students are encouraged not to bring personal devices; if they do, devices stay off and stored. The guidance describes students in this band as particularly vulnerable to the distracting and emotionally intense nature of social media and mobile devices, and suggests advisory lessons on social media stress and screen-time habits.^{Grades 6-8}

Grades 9–12

Devices must be off and stored throughout the school day. Staff must intervene consistently and handle infractions with a graduated approach through the code of student conduct, emphasising reflection and personal responsibility.^{Grades 9-12}

Every band carries the same note: a student with a documented need should be permitted to use a device under the exceptions.^Exceptions Those are set out on the exceptions page.

Emergencies

Built into the safety plan

District safety plans must build device procedures into emergency planning. The guidance says unregulated use during a crisis can interfere with emergency communications, spread misinformation and disrupt coordinated response, and asks districts to give developmentally appropriate instructions on when and how, if at all, devices may be used.^{Emergency Communications}

The example given: during a lockdown, students should be instructed to avoid unnecessary communication unless directed otherwise by emergency personnel. During something like a weather evacuation, students follow staff direction.^{Emergency Communications}

If a building closes unexpectedly while devices are locked away, districts are told to have a central protocol for retrieving them safely, to consider designated pick-up windows at a secure location with staff oversight and sign-out, and to communicate the procedure by robocall, email and the school website.^{Emergency Communications}

For a family emergency, families are told to contact the main office rather than the student.^{Emergency Communications}^Q5 The period-by-period version of this is on the emergency page.

The lockdown instruction, verbatim

For example, during a lockdown, students should be instructed to avoid unnecessary communication unless directed otherwise by emergency personnel.^{Emergency Communications}

What happens when the rule is broken

Teaching over punishment

The guidance asks for discipline along a continuum, aligned to the district’s code of student conduct and to students’ developmental needs, prioritising teaching, restoration and skill-building over punishment, and avoiding responses that remove students from instruction unnecessarily.^{Imposing Consequences}

It also says consistent expectations across classrooms and settings reduce confusion and inequitable application, and asks boards to review discipline data regularly to see whether their responses are achieving what they were meant to.^{Imposing Consequences}

That review requirement matters to this site’s argument in both directions: it is the strongest form of the case for a single bright line, and it is also the mechanism by which a district that tried something narrower would find out whether it worked.

Telling students and families

Feedback is in the document

Districts must have a clear communication protocol covering the purpose of the policy, what is prohibited and permitted including accommodations, and how it will be enforced. The guidance suggests handbooks, back-to-school nights, staff training, translated materials, infographics and an annual acknowledgement that families and students have received the policy.^{Communicating Policy}

Two lines in that section are the reason this site exists in the form it does: districts are told to offer students and families opportunities to ask questions and give feedback, including through digital forms, and to revisit and update the policy annually to reflect stakeholder feedback.^{Communicating Policy}

Offering opportunities for families and students to ask questions and provide feedback during information sessions, parent-teacher conferences, or through digital forms.^{Communicating Policy}
Revisit and update the policy annually to reflect stakeholder feedback and emerging digital trends.^{Communicating Policy}

All sixteen FAQ answers What your district decides